A sohmid



I June 7, 1932. sc 10 7 1,862,435

DEVICE FOR ASCERTAINING THE NUMBER DAYS BETWEEN ANY TWO GIVEN DATES Filed July 29, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 7, 1932. m 1,862,435

DEVICE FOR ASCERTAINING THE NUMBER OF DAYS BETWEEN ANY TWO GIVEN DATES Filed July 29, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g In 1/2 a? far? fiijf Join! Z Patented June 7, 1932 UNITED STATES ADOLF SCHMID, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA DEVICE FOR ASCERTAINING THE NUMBER OF DAYS BETWEEN ANY TWO GIVEN DATES Application filed July 29 1930, Serial No. 471,565, and in Austria August 10, 1929.

This invention relates to a device for ascertaining mechanically the number of days be tween any two given dates in the calendaryear. 7

Various forms of apparatus for this purpose have already been devised, but have been of questionable value on account of a number of drawbacks which tend to make their use clumsy and unreliable. In the first place the coupling of the endless band on wh1ch the days of the year are registered with the adjacent number bands is on the one hand too complicated and on the other hand independable, so that, unless very great care is taken in manipulating the apparatus, wrong results are obtained, which in their turn can only be checked by returning the apparatus to the starting position; and-finally the uncoupl ng of these devices and the setting in condition 2 for fresh manipulation require so much tlme, in view of the number of operations to be carried out, that their employment in banks and other businesses offers no advantages over other methods of calculation without the help of such apparatus. These defects and disadvantages may be taken to be the reason why the hitherto known devices for the purpose described have found no widespread or general application in practise.

overcome in the device provided by the present invention. The mode of operation is exceedingly simple, and the checking of the re sult obtained is possible at any moment since forwards in the direction of its length while I the other is caused to remain stationary, so that after the adjustment of the one band to a given date and the subsequent movement of the other band until the second of the given dates appears opposite a fixed mark the num-' ber of the days between these two dates can as be read off on a registering device.

0 Thedefects described have been entirely,

both of the dates, the number of days between I Further features of the invention relate in particular to the arrangement for coupling the conveyor mechanism of each individual band with the registering device, and to the construction of the drums for winding and R unwinding the bands.

An example of a form of construction embodying the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows the complete apparatus in G9 plan, with the lid removed.

Fig. 2 illustrates in diagrammatic side elevation the arrangement of the pinions which transfer the rotary movement of the conveyor rollers to the registering mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the changeover device for the wheels acting on the register, on a somewhat enlarged scale.

F ig. 4 is a rear view of the gearing, likewise on a somewhat enlarged scale, and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic left-hand side elevation of the driving mechanism of the winding drum of one of the date bands. 5 Referring to the drawings two rollers 4 are attached to shafts 3 rotatably mounted in the two side walls 1 ofa casing and in two vertical bearing-plates 2. Carried over these rollers there are two bands 5 of sheet steel, celluloid, or other suitable material on which, at equal intervals, the days of the calendarso year are consecutively inscribed. As illustrated, numbers are used to designate the days, the day of the month first, and then the number of the month following same. These bands 5 are perforated along their edges, in the manner of a cinematographic film, and the two conveyor rollers 4 are provided with two peripheral rows of teeth which are adapted to engage in these perforations, and thus to ensure on the one hand that the band does not become laterally displaced upon the said roller, and on the other hand a faultless feeding forward of the band when the roller is rotated. The said rotation is effected by means of hand-cranks 6, 6 which are keyed to the outer ends of the shafts 3. Each band 5 is attached at its ends to two drums 7, 7 which are driven by the conveyor rollers 4 through the intermediary of the pinions 8,

' 9, and 10 (see Figs. 1 and 5), and is thus automatically wound and unwound during its movement in a manner to be described later.

To the inner ends of the shafts 3 there are attached toothed wheels 11, 11 which engage in pinions 12, 12 the shafts 13 of which are mounted at one end in the bearing-plates 2, 2 and at the other end in two intermediate vertical plates 14, 14; on the inner side of the pinion 12 there is mounted on each of the shafts 13 a larger gear 15 in such a manner as to be freely rotatable but immovable in an axial direction. The right-hand gear 15 in Fig. 1 engages in the pinion 16 (Figs. 2 and 4) which is attached to, the shaft of a register 17 located between the bearing-plates 14. The pinion 16 is approximately twice as broad as the gear wheel 15, since this pinion 16is also in constant engagement with a spur gear 18 of precisely the same diameter and number of teeth as itself. This spur gear 18 is attached to a shaft 19 which passes through the bearing-plates 14, 14 and is fitted at its other end with a gear wheel 20 which is also identical with the gear wheels 16 and 18 and cooperates with the left-hand gear 15.

The coupling of one or other of the conveyor rollers 4 to the register is efiiected by means of the mechanism (see Figs. 14) now tobe described.

For the purpose of coupling either one of the wheels 15, 15 to its shaft 13, and at the same time to lock the other conveyor roller (which is not connected to the register) against rotation these shafts 13, 13 are provided; each with a sleeve 21, 21 which sleeves are'not rotatable in respect to the shafts 13, 13 but longitudinally slidable thereon. The ends of these sleeves are provided with discshaped flanges having outwardly projecting pins or studs 22, 22 Wl'ilOll correspond with and: are adapted to project into holes 23, 23 in the gear wheels 15, 15 andtin the two intermediate bearing plates 14, 14. These two clutch sleeves 21, 21 are connected; together by a link24 which can be laterally displaced by means of an actuating lever 26 passing therethrough and pivotally mounted at its farend at 25 ,the other end of this actuating lever 26 passes out through an opening in the front of the casing and is provided with a knob 27.

i In the position shown in Fig. 1 the link 24 is in the extreme left-hand position (see also the rear view shown in Fig. 4) so that the lowerclutch sleeve 21 engages with its studs 22 in the holes in the left hand gear wheel 15, thus couplingthis wheel with its shaft 13. If, under these circumstances, the lefthandcrank G be turned the corresponding band 5will be movedin one direction or the other, and the register 17' will be actuated through the gear wheels 11,12, 15,20,- 18, andlG. The ratioof thesewheelsis so determined thatwhen the-band is moved through the distance representingone day the wheel 16 is rotated through one complete revolution, thus causing the register to be moved to the extent of one digit. The second, upper, clutch sleeve 21 engages with its studs 22 in the holes provided in the left-hand inter mediate bearing-plate 14, so that the shaft 13, which is connected with the right-hand conveyor roller 4, is locked against rotation, and the right-hand gear wheel 15, which engages in the pinion 16 of the register, is free to rotate idly on its shaft 13.

The register can thus at any one time be connected with the conveyor roller 4 of only one band, while the other roller 4 is locked in the described manner; this is important, since otherwise the register could easily give wrong results. If the link 24 be moved towards the right (Fig. 3') the studs 22 of the upper sleeve 21 will engage in the righthand gear wheel 15, sothat the rotation of the shaft 13 of the latter is transmitted, on rotation of the right-hand conveyor roller, to the register, while the lower sleeve 21 engages with its right-hand studs 22 in the righthand bearing-plate 14, thus locking the shaft 13 which is connected with. the left-hand conveyor roller 4.

The lengths of the sleeves 21,. 21 and of the studs 22, 22 are so, determined that, during the course of the change-over movement of these sleeves, the one group of studs begins to project into the corresponding holes in the bearing-plate 14 before the other group of studs has completely quitted the holes in the g1I-Wh6l 1-5; by this means the idle turning of the conveyor rollers 4, which could lead to a wrong reading at the register, is prevented.

As mentioned at the outset the twin winding drums 7,7 are driven by their correspond ing conveyor rollers through the intermediary ofthe gear wheels 8, 9, and 10. Since the winding diameter of these drums varies according to the length of band wound thereon, and: therotation of both drums to the same extent would wind a different length. of band, it will be clear that thesedrumsmust: not be rigidly connected to their driving pinions 10, but that a relativeslipping must be provided for at this point, and that a. certain degree of braking. is necessary at the unwinding side toensure that the band is unwoundifrom the one drum only as fast as it can bewound by theother drum.

On one ofthe bands 5 the days of one calendar-year are consecutively inscribed, while on the. second band, with a view to obtaining the widest possible range, the days of at least 15 or 16*months, starting with January 1, are likewise inscribed: According to requirement or: choice both bands may equally wellcomprise a longer space of time than those indicated.

Asmentioned above, the whole apparatus is accommodated in acasing ;the latter is covered with a lid 40 (Fig. 2) which is provided with a window over each band (indicated in dotted lines at 41 in Fig. l) which is so dimensioned as to permit of the appearance of only one day at a time and thus serves as a rigid mark for the adjustment of the band to a certain definite day. It is clear that pointers or other suitable means can be employed for this same purpose.

The lid of the casing is similarly provided with a window for the reading of the register, and the change-over lever 26, with which the coupling of the band with the register is effected, projects into the open through a slot 42 in the front portion of the lid (Fig. 1).

In order to obtain a correct reading from the register both bands must be so applied to the conveyor rollers that when the register reading is 000 (zero) the same day of the year is visible at the fixed marks(win- (lows) for both bands.

The difference in time between any two calendar dates, expressed in days, is found by setting a date, for example, in Fig. 1 of the drawings, 27.4 or April 27, to the mark (window 11) upon one of the two graduated bands, for example the right hand one, after clutching the same with the registering mechanism by a corresponding movement of the shift lever 26. Then, by swinging the shift lever 26, the drive means of this already set graduated band is disconnected from the register mechanism and simultaneously locked and the other graduated band is clutched to the registering mechanism, whereupon this band is fed forward by turning the hand crank to such extent that the other calendar date, for example 21.7 or July 21, involved in determining the number of days, becomes visible at the left hand mark 41. Then the number of days, for example 85, lying between the two set calendar dates may be read oif in the registering mechanism.

As already previously noted, the drive gear 15 belonging to the right hand graduated band meshes directly with the drive pinion 16 of the registering mechanism while the drive gear 15 of the left hand graduated band acts upon the register drive pinion 16 through the gear wheels 20 and 18; said register therefore is turned in both directions upon a similar direction of travel of the graduated bands, and thus the register will be turned forward upon forward shifting, for example, of the left hand graduated band and will be turned backward upon forward shifting of the right hand band.

Thus an addition and subtraction occur automatically at the register mechanism so that it becomes unnecessary to reset the register mechanism to zero before carrying out an operation for determining a number of days. Of course, a shifting of the two graduated bands with respect to one another without operating the register mechanism must be prevented, which is accomplished in the present case in that that graduated band which, for the time being, is disconnected from the register mechanism, is locked and therefore cannot move without operating the register mechanism.

I For the ascertaining of an appointed date on the basis of a fixed term of days the starting date is adjusted on the one band, e. g. the right-hand band, and after switching over the clutch mechanism the other band is moved until the given number of days can be read at the register, after which the required date can be read off at the second (i. e. in this case left-hand) window.

It is to be understood that details of the construction can be varied without departing from the scope of the invention; in particular the frictional coupling between the band drums 7 and their driving pinions 10 and the braking device for the drums can be modified from the construction herein described.

I claim:

1. Device for determining the number of days lying between two calendar dates, comprising two shiftable graduated bands containing the consecutive calendar days, conveyor rollers over which said bands are passed, a single register adapted to be operated alternatively by both rollers in common, a shiftable clutch means for selectively coupling the register at any moment with the roller of one of the two graduated bands and means whereby the other graduated band, which at that time is disconnected from the register, is simultaneously locked.

2. Device in accordance with claim 1, wherein drive gears and shafts upon which they are arranged loosely are provided, for operating the register, the register having drive means actuated thereby, and clutch elements slidingly keyed upon said shafts, to selectively transmit rotation from the shafts to the drive gears and thence to the register.

3. Device in accordance with claim 1, wherein drive gears and shafts upon which they are arranged loosely, and a stationary frame supporting same, are provided, for operating the register, the register having drive means actuated by said gears, clutch elements slidingly keyed upon said shafts, to

selectively transmit rotation from the shafts to the drive gears and thence to the register, a link positively connecting the clutch elements to one another, said clutch elements having lugs upon both ends, there being apertures in the drive gears and in the stationary frame of the device, adapted to be selectively and alternatively engaged by said lugs when the clutch elements are shifted.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ADOLF SCHMID. 

